Amir Khan deletes tweet calling I'm A Celeb contestants 'has beens'

Olympic boxing champion Amir Khan is competing in this year's series of I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here, after sneering at celebrities who appear on jungle-based reality show.

When asked by a fan in 2012 whether he would ever appear on the programme, Khan replied "no its for has beens [sic]" in a Twitter Q&A, using the hashtag "#askamir". The tweet has since been deleted. 

Khan, 30, also recently admitted he is unfamiliar with what the show involves. In a video to promote the programme, he said: "Bushtucker trial? I’ve never heard of it. What is that?"

The Bushtucker trial, the main feature of the long-running ITV show, is a frightening or humiliating challenge – such as being buried in live rats, or forced to eat a kangaroo's genitals – in order to win coupons that can be exchanged for food.

In another interview, Khan said he saw his stint in the jungle as a chance to "face [his] phobias", explaining that he was afraid of snakes, heights and spiders. “Whenever I see a spider at home, I get my sister to move it," he said. "I just don’t deal with it. I hope I don’t come across any of them when I am in the Jungle but I know I am going to. Will I scream? Yes, definitely."

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In 2004, Khan became Britain's youngest Olympic boxing medallist at the age of 17. He will be joined in the jungle by former Scottish Labour leader Kezia Dugdale, alongside Coronation Street actress Jennie McAlpine and author Stanley Johnson, the father of Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson.

Khan, who published a statement last month apologising to his fans for "for not being active for a year", does not see himself as a has-been. “I am still at the peak of my career," he told ITV.